Updated November 10, 2026 · 9 services tested
We tested 9 LLC services for Illinois. Northwest is our pick: $39 + $150 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr).
By Jon Morgan · Fact-checked by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney · How we test
Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + $150 state feeForm my LLC for $39 (opens in a new tab)
LegalZoom
$0 + $150 state feeSee LegalZoom plans (opens in a new tab)Save 20% with code: venturesmarter20
ZenBusiness
$0 + $150 state feeSee ZenBusiness plans (opens in a new tab)Prices checked November 10, 2026. Illinois's state filing fee is $150.
We built an LLC with every service on this page, and Northwest is our pick for the best LLC formation service in Illinois. LegalZoom ranks second and ZenBusiness third.
In our test of third-ranked ZenBusiness, it filed our Articles of Organization correctly and organized the account well enough that nothing needed a second look.
We compared all nine services below on package pricing, registered agent cost, filing speed, support quality and how clearly each one handles Illinois's yearly renewal paperwork.
The table gives you the side-by-side view, and each provider section breaks down what you'll pay once the add-ons are counted.
| Service | LLC Fees | Registered Agent Price | Money-Back Guarantee | Score | Compare offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39 via our link + $150 state fee | Free first year with the $39 LLC, then $125/yr | ✓ 90-day money-back guarantee | 4.9 | Form my LLC (opens in a new tab) |
| Starting from $0 + $150 state fee | $249 first year, then $249/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day refund window | 4.7 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
| Starting at $0 + $150 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day refund window | 4.6 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | From $0 + $150 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $249/yr | ✓ 60-day refund window | 4.5 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | From $0 + $150 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✗ | 4.4 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Beginning at $49 + $150 state fee | $14.99/mo first year, then $14.99/mo (inside its compliance plan) | ✓ 30- to 60-day refund policy | 4.3 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | $99 flat rate + $150 state fee | $99 first year, then $159/yr (sold separately) | ✗ | 4.2 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | From $0 + $150 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $149/yr | ✓ Refundable before state payment (typically 24h); $30 fee applies | 4.1 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | From $79 + $150 state fee | $119 first year, then $119/yr (year one included with Entrepreneur or Complete) | ✓ 90-day money-back guarantee | 3.6 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
Prices checked November 10, 2026. Illinois's state filing fee is $150.
Each score combines support, price, features, turnaround, ease of use and user ratings.
Refund: 90 days
BBB: Not BBB accredited; holds A rating
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: No free-tier features included
Advisory Services: No
A welcome email from a named Corporate Guide landed within a day of our Illinois order. It read like something an actual person wrote, warmer than a form letter.
Northwest owns its own registered agent offices. It doesn't route mail through an outside firm. Once the state approved our filing, the formation document and a starter operating agreement showed up automatically. We never had to ask.
Northwest keeps your street address off the public filing. That one decision shapes most of what the account offers.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day refund window
BBB: A+ BBB rating
Same & Next Day Filing: No
LegalZoom's dashboard lists a network of independent attorneys, available by subscription. Most competitors here skip that entirely.
The document center handles e-signature on its own. It also pulls from a library of attorney-drafted templates that stay useful long after the initial filing.
A compliance quiz inside the dashboard flags license needs early. That beats finding out at renewal time.
As a special offer from Venture Smarter, use the exclusive code venturesmarter20 to get 20% off LLC formation and other services at LegalZoom.
Pros
Cons
The Business Advisor Plan renews at $49/month after 30 days if retained; the Expert Service Plan renews at $99/month after 30 days if retained.
Refund: 60-day refund window
BBB: BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: Pro & Premium Package
Advisory Services: Accounting consultation included
ZenBusiness's Velo assistant flagged our missing EIN the moment we logged back in. It pointed us straight to the compliance tab.
That tab tracks formation status, registered agent status and license checks in one place. Nothing got buried in a separate tool. Filing took about 10 minutes. The portal never asked us to hunt for a missing field.
Pros
Cons
Pro renews at $199/year and Premium at $299/year. Registered-agent service is separate at $199 first year, then $199/yr; a qualifying formation offer may reduce the first year to $99, then it renews at $199/year.
The 30-day website-builder trial is preselected but removable before purchase and renews at $15/month if kept.
Refund: 60-day refund window
BBB: BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: Premium Package
Advisory Services: Private banking specialist
Inc Authority's checkout walks through several timed upsell screens before the final payment page. Knowing that up front keeps it from feeling like a switch.
The account opened straight into a logo builder as soon as formation was done. That was a pleasant surprise at such a low entry cost.
The free first-year registered agent (then $249/yr) was included as advertised. A second free perk turned out to be a pick-one choice at checkout rather than an automatic bonus.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: No
Free Package Features: LLC filing plus 30-day bookkeeping trial
Advisory Services: Business coaching program (all plans)
Tailor Brands tracked our filing status in the dashboard the whole way through, then dropped the approved formation documents into the same account as soon as the state signed off.
The dashboard splits branding, finance and compliance into separate tabs. Finding the annual filing tracker never meant scrolling past marketing tiles.
Navi, the in-account assistant, surfaced our financial tracking on first login. We hadn't asked where to find it yet. The registered agent price stays flat from day one. There's no renewal jump to plan around later.
Pros
Cons
Open any card for the complete review, scores and packages.
Refund: 30- to 60-day refund policy
BBB: A rating with BBB
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: Operating agreement
Advisory Services: Attorney support (paid add-on)
LLC Attorney asked for every Illinois detail up front. A live reviewer checked our filing before it went to the state.
Registered agent service is not part of any formation option here. It comes with LLC Attorney's compliance subscriptions at $14.99, $29.99 or $49.99 a month (the same in the first year and every year after).
Support answered in plain words instead of sending us to a help article, including a question about choosing LLC status over an S-Corp election.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: ~ Varies by state
Free Package Features: No free-tier features included
Advisory Services: No
Harbor Compliance skips the sales call entirely. The client portal collects whatever's still needed, and a project-status tracker shows exactly where the filing sits.
Entity Manager scans legal mail the same day it arrives, once registered agent service is active. That tracking syncs directly with the account instead of living in a spreadsheet.
Nobody walks new customers through the dashboard step by step. The flow leans on its own tutorials and help content instead.
Pros
Cons
Refund: Refundable before state payment (typically 24h); $30 fee applies
BBB: No
Same & Next Day Filing: Platinum Package
Free Package Features: Business tax consultation
Advisory Services: Free 1-hour tax consultation
Bizee's order review screen laid out the full total before payment, down to the exact state fee. There was nothing left to discover afterward.
The dashboard's filings tab keeps state and federal paperwork on separate views. An amendment option sits in plain view right next to the annual report filer.
Support only runs on weekdays, so a weekend question waits until the next business day. A first-year registered agent came included, so our only cost at checkout was Illinois's own filing fee.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 90-day money-back guarantee
BBB: A+ BBB rating
Same & Next Day Filing: Yes
Free Package Features: No free-tier features included
Advisory Services: Trademark consultation & 1-hour tax webinar
MyCompanyWorks keeps its lineup simple. Three clear options, each one building on the last, with no maze of screens at checkout.
Every option processes on the same business day it's submitted, per the provider's published terms. Phone and email support run during standard weekday business hours.
The refund policy is stricter than most. It excludes fees once documents have already shipped, so cancel before that point if you change your mind.
Pros
Cons
We formed an LLC with each of these nine services and worked through every checkout and dashboard ourselves before scoring anything. Our full testing methodology explains exactly how we weight each category.
We scored all nine services across six categories: support, price, features, turnaround, ease of use and user ratings. Then we added a seventh check specific to how well each service fits an Illinois filing.
A support score comes down to what happens when a question can't wait for a help-center article rather than what the sales page promises.
Northwest has the top support score, with LegalZoom next and ZenBusiness below them. ZenBusiness's Velo assistant flags account gaps the moment you log back in.
Northwest assigns a named Corporate Guide who follows up personally rather than routing you through a ticket queue.
The cheapest plan only earns a high price score if it still does something useful once the filing is done.
Several $0 tiers on this page drop to a bare confirmation email with no ongoing dashboard, the exact gap that keeps a free plan from scoring well.
Northwest leads on the overall price score. ZenBusiness still has a $0 Starter, but paid-tier renewals and separate registered-agent pricing are reflected in its score.
The widest feature sets on this page belong to services that build well past a one-time filing.
ZenBusiness's dashboard tracks formation, registered agent status and licenses in one view, while LegalZoom pairs formation with an independent attorney network, e-signature and a template library.
Northwest and LegalZoom share the top features score here, with ZenBusiness just behind them for its guided dashboard and compliance tools.
Internal processing speed varies more across these nine services than Illinois's own approval time does.
LegalZoom's registered agent renewal terms took longer to parse than the filing itself, while Bizee's standard tier still runs a multi-week queue before it even reaches the state.
ZenBusiness and Northwest share the top turnaround score in this comparison, with LegalZoom close behind.
The easiest accounts to use are the ones that keep every task inside a single login rather than sending you elsewhere for compliance or documents.
ZenBusiness leads this category with a 4.9 ease-of-use score, while Northwest follows and Tailor Brands keeps branding, finance and compliance in one dashboard.
Third-party review scores line up closely with what our own testing found across these nine services. Northwest and ZenBusiness carry the strongest independent review profiles among the group, with the highest User Ratings scores on this page.
ZenBusiness and Northwest tie for the highest user-ratings score on this page, with Tailor Brands just a step behind.
Illinois's physical-address rule for registered agents and its yearly anniversary-month report reward two different strengths, so the best statewide fit isn't a single winner.
Northwest fits the address rule most cleanly, since it staffs its own registered agent offices rather than farming mail out to a third party.
ZenBusiness's compliance dashboard, on the other hand, lines up well with Illinois's anniversary-month deadline.
Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Illinois Small Business Profile, and Business Employment Dynamics (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
For everything else involved in starting an LLC in Illinois, see our full guide, including how long the process typically takes.
Online filings typically clear in 5 to 10 business days, and mail filings run 7 to 14 business days plus mail time. Paying an extra $100 for expedited processing brings that down to about 24 hours.
The state charges $150 to file Articles of Organization. Formation services add their own service fee on top, ranging from $0 to a few hundred dollars depending on the package.
Yes. Illinois law requires every LLC to continuously maintain a registered agent at a physical street address in the state, not a PO box or virtual office.
No. Filing the Articles of Organization online is a straightforward process, and most of the services on this page can walk you through it in under 15 minutes.
By default, profits pass through to the owners' personal tax returns. LLCs taxed as partnerships also owe a 1.5% Illinois Personal Property Replacement Tax on net income.
Before the first day of the month your LLC was originally formed, every year. Illinois opens the filing window 45 days early and adds a $100 penalty the day after the deadline passes.
Northwest is our top pick for most Illinois LLC owners, based on the included first-year registered-agent service and named Corporate Guide.
LegalZoom ranks second and is the stronger choice for founders who want broader legal services. ZenBusiness ranks third and fits owners who want guided online formation.
Bizee and Inc Authority fit owners who want the smallest possible bill in year one, as long as renewal pricing gets watched closely.
Pick Northwest for the most balanced filing experience in Illinois. Pick LegalZoom, ZenBusiness, Bizee or Inc Authority when one of those specific trade-offs matters more to you than an all-around fit.
References
Our verdict
$39 + $150 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr). 90-day money-back guarantee.
Prices checked November 10, 2026. Illinois's state filing fee is $150.